Tad Yates is admitted to practice law in the state courts of Florida, the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, and the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Florida in 1991 and from the University of Florida College of Law in 1994.
Mr. Yates is a past President of both the Orange County Bar Association and the Board of Trustees of the Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association. In 2004, Mr. Yates was awarded the Young Lawyer Professionalism Award by the Orange County Bar Association.
In 2011, Florida Governor Rick Scott appointed Mr. Yates to the Judicial Nominating Commission for the Ninth Judicial Circuit. He served for two years as Chair of that Commission. Mr. Yates previously served on the Florida Bar Criminal Rules Committee and chaired one of the Ninth Circuit Grievance Committees for the Florida Bar.
In 2013, Mr. Yates was appointed by the Board of Governors of the Florida Bar to the Florida Bar Foundation Board of Directors. He also currently serves on the Board of Directors for the University of Florida Alumni Association and serves as Vice Chair of the Ninth Circuit Professionalism Panel.
From 2008 through this year, Mr. Yates was selected by Florida Trend Magazine as one of “Florida’s Legal Elite” in the area of Criminal Law. In 2009, he was selected by “Florida Super Lawyers” for inclusion on the Florida Rising Stars list, featuring outstanding young lawyers in the state. Since 2011, he has been selected for inclusion on the “Florida Super Lawyers” list. Mr. Yates is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell. An AV rating signifies that the lawyer has reached the heights of professional excellence and is recognized for the highest levels of skill and integrity.
Mr. Yates currently serves on the Florida Bar Board of Governors as a representative of the Ninth Judicial Circuit. The 52-member Board of Governors has exclusive authority to formulate and adopt matters of policy concerning the activities of the Bar.
